B.C. moves to set up province-wide earthquake monitoring system

John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington, displays a beta version of an early warning system for earthquakes. The B.C. is now seeking to gather information about earthquake monitoring and early-warning systems that would integrate with existing systems along the west coast of North America.Elaine Thompson / AP

The B.C. government has taken a first step to create a province-wide earthquake monitoring and early-warning system.

The province is soliciting help to gather information on existing systems, and ideas on how to integrate and expand such a scheme.

Interested parties have until Dec. 20 to pitch proposals.

The idea is the system would provide early warnings of earthquakes to residents via the Internet, phones and television, and provide important information for scientists on how buildings, pipelines and other infrastructure perform in an earthquake.

Scientists have estimated that there is a 30 per cent chance of a damaging earthquake hitting a populated area in southwestern B.C. in the next 50 years.

A province-wide monitoring system would connect motion-sensor networks and individual sensors located in the ground and in buildings.

Detecting p-waves, the first waves in an earthquake that are not damaging, can give people vital seconds to protect themselves. Alerts could also trigger shutdowns of tunnels, bridges and gas valves.

The system would also collect data on the damaging s-waves that follow p-waves. Because B.C. has thousands of low-magnitude earthquakes a year, monitoring of s-waves would provide information that scientists can use to research the effects of earthquakes on buildings and other infrastructure.

There are some monitoring and early warning systems in place: for dozens of schools, off the coast in the deep ocean, and in private systems.

Becky Denlinger, deputy minister of emergency management in the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, said a robust monitoring system would provide information to adapt seismic retrofits, construction techniques and building codes.

“That information can help us improve public safety and our idea about how to harden or strengthen ourselves against a seismic event,” said Denlinger.

The request to pull together information on monitoring systems — and examine the appetite among players for co-operation — will help determine if an integrated province-wide system could and should be created, she noted.

The idea is also to determine costs and funding, and responsibility for operating the system, said Denlinger. Such a system would require compatibility with systems in Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska.

Kent Johansen, a University of B.C. civil engineering research associate and designer of the early warning system for schools, said creating a wider network is a good idea. A dense network would provide more information and increase resiliency, he said.

The B.C. Sugar building near the Vancouver waterfront is an example of the type of older masonry building that may need reinforcement before an earthquake hits.Richard Lam /
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Despite the B.C. government’s interest on this front and steps it has taken to seismically upgrade infrastructure such as schools and bridges, the province has shown little interest in addressing its privately owned building stock. Thousands of buildings constructed mostly before the early 1970s do not meet modern seismic safety standards, a recent examination by Postmedia News revealed.

The municipal record on proactively addressing the seismic risk of private buildings has been spotty.

The City of Vancouver first identified a need more than 20 years ago to reduce the seismic hazard of its older, existing private building stock but failed to create a proactive program to do so, Postmedia News reported last week.

Hundreds of buildings on a list of seismically at-risk buildings compiled by engineering consultants for the city in the early 1990s appear to have had no seismic upgrades, Postmedia’s examination also found.

Cities like Vancouver and Victoria say the province should help.

Engineering experts have said more action is needed to upgrade buildings, including privately owned stock. Other jurisdictions, including recently, Portland, Ore., have done inventories of at-risk buildings and are considering mandating seismic retrofits over time. California has mandated seismic retrofits since the 1980s.

“They make a compelling argument for the government to consider its role. It has gotten our attention,” said Denlinger.

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